I was doing some preventative maintenance on my wife's car and thought I might take a minute to look under the hood of my new R56. I found the oil, wiper fluid and coolant ok. After a while, I found the master cylinder and battery (near the windshield; behind plastic doors). But I was unable to find a power steering dipstick or reservoir to check the fluid level. Is that because the system is completely electric on the new model? There is no mention of needing to check the power steering fluid in the owner's manual? Has technology made it not necessary to check power steering fluid anymore when checking the other fluid levels?

 

The power steering in the R56 is entirely electric power assisted. No hydraulics to fool with. This is part of the gas efficiency ratings.

 

I've read from several NAM posters that " No, there is no power steering fluid on R56 '07+ mini's " I would just like to see some definitive proof. It's not that I don't believe it to be true (since I can't find it either lol) just for my peace of mind that there is definitely no maintenance required on behalf of the power steering.

Thank you!

 

R56 MINI now use fully "electric servo" power assisted steering with a motor geared direct to the steering rack with no hydraulics or fluid reservoir and less noise.

Notice in the pic no hoses to attach.

 

Sweet!

Thank you Braminator :D

 

You are very welcome. Have a safe Happy New Year!!

 

My 07 Mini S has not seen much use in five plus years; been driving my other toys. But it's been a lot of fun. However, Saturday it drove just fine on the backroads. Yesterday I went to start it up, and while it did fire up fine, a gold colored steering wheel appeared on the warning screen with a big exclamation mark next to it. When I pulled on the steering wheel as the car sat there, it didn't want to go, but jerked back a little. I haven't tampered with it beyond that. Since my mechanic at Hammond Autowerks can't even look at it till 2/5, I thought I'd come in and see what others have experienced. This is a 2007 Cooper S that was delivered as a spec ordered car around april/may 2007. It's been great, right up til now. Looking around on the forums, it's apparent there was a big problem with these ps units on the early cars, but the 07s have had some issues too. Any thoughts anybody? I'm laughing about it at this point,and trying to think of exactly what B-M-W stands for.
UPDATE: Minutes after posting this, I went out to check the car again. Now it fires up and no warning light as described, and the wheels turn easy. Having worked in electronics, I know the dreaded word INTERMITTENT. I'll get under it manana and see if there's anything obvious with the wiring hookups. Any thoughts?

 

Wait, so you tried to turn the wheel and it tried to turn the opposite way or did it feel like the power steering just didn't work?

 

It was extremely FIRM sitting still. Felt like it jerked against my downward pull repeatedly as I sat there. . Today it turns easy, like a feather. I'm a bit leery of taking it out for a drive; if that occurred at the wrong moment on a two lane road, it could be big trouble.

 

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. However, keep in mind that you have electric ASSIST power steering, not electric steering. So, the front wheels are still directly and mechanically connected to your steering wheel. You won't lose steering, it'll be like having a manual steering rack.

It may be inconvenient to have the electrically assisted steering go out, but you wont lose any steering ability.

Good luck!

 

That warning may have been the steering column lock warning as well. Next time you get a warning like that, run through the following procedure to narrow down the issue:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-messages.html

 

Surfblue, checking in months later: THANKS for that youtube video link. However, since this started, it's just flat out gone away. The symptom was continuous for a short while, and I'd just have to start the car a second or often third time for the power steering assist to work. I put up with it for a month. Only did it first thing in the morning, cold; once you'd driven it, it didn't repeat. Then it started requiring just one restart, then often none, then just normal one start and go. Go figure. It's been fine now for quite a while.

 

How old is the battery? These cars start to act up and get all weird when the voltage is lower than normal, (usually due to a old dying battery...)

 

I coundn't find the resevoir on my 2007 Base either. There is a slight high pitch whine when I first crank it up that disappears in about a second. I thought maybe it was the power steering? If anyone has experienced the same let me know.

 

So I've read everywhere and can't seem to find info on this. In my 2010 cooper s, I just started getting this squealing noise when I turn the wheel to the left. Not replicated on the right. It seems to be getting worse, as I can notice it in any left turn and most speeds, not just standing still. Any ideas?

 

My steering assist went out just before i planned on parking it to put a new clutch in it. During disassembly i was looking at the steering motor and noticed the main power connector didn't look right. Sure enough, must of been a bad connection on the ground wire. Burntit up pretty good. But at least i know what the problem is. $700 for the motor and will probably have to go top the junk yard to get a new connector

 

Hi there. Newbie mini owners (4 months) 2008 mini clubman...We found this out for ourselves when power steering abruptly quit😉 Since we tend to do things ourselves, we've dove in feet first. Seem to be getting 12.5 v at the plug to pump, which clearly means pump is bad, right? After removing 2 bolts it doesn't seem to wanna budge. How hard should we be pulling on this thing? Any advice on where to look for videos on this?